This invention relates to an apparatus for introducing a coolant into the breech-side end of a weapon barrel.
German Offenlegungsschrift (application published without examination) 38 27 740 discloses a cooling apparatus for a large-caliber weapon barrel wherein a cradle tube rigidly connected with the cradle constitutes the outer wall of a jacket for guiding the coolant therein. The cradle tube, for ensuring an intensive heat removal, has channels in the region of the rearward and forward barrel support bushings for supplying and removing a gaseous or liquid coolant. Such a cooling apparatus is a fixed component of the large-caliber weapon barrel and thus has to be manufactured separately for each weapon.
German Patent No. 40 22 542 discloses a cooling apparatus which, for supplying a coolant to the chamber of a weapon barrel, has a nozzle for spraying the inner barrel face of the chamber with a coolant. The nozzle extends, by means of a central connecting tube, into the frontal half of the chamber and the coolant is pumped through the connecting tube to the nozzle. Since such a cooling apparatus has to be manually inserted into the chamber, risks are high that the tube and nozzle are not centrally guided and may thus be damaged or destroyed. Further, such an apparatus is not capable of ensuring a uniform cooling of the entire chamber.
German Patent No. 40 22 541 also discloses an apparatus for introducing a coolant into the chamber of a weapon barrel. The cooling apparatus has a coolant container which is introducible into the weapon chamber and which is composed of a jacket and a container bottom connected therewith. The coolant is driven out of the container towards the weapon muzzle through openings provided in the container. It is a disadvantage of such an apparatus that the cooling process affects mainly the rearward portion of the loading chamber rather than the frontal portion where maximum loading temperatures prevail.